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  4. Asthma Trends Brief
  5. Current Asthma Demographics

Current Asthma Demographics

Current asthma rates are not the same across demographic groups. This page describes current asthma rates, defined as those who have ever been diagnosed with asthma by a healthcare professional and report still having asthma, by the following demographics: sex and age, race/ethnicity, Hispanic subgroups, family income, health insurance coverage, and state.

Current Asthma Rates by Sex and Age

  • Among children, current asthma is more common for males (7.0%) than females (5.4%). However, among adults, females (10.8%) are more likely than males (6.5%) to still have asthma.

Current Asthma Rates by Race/Ethnicity

  • Black individuals and Indigenous Peoples have the highest current asthma rates compared to other races and ethnicities. In 2022, Black individuals (10.3%) were 44% more likely than white individuals (8.4%) to still have asthma.
  • Latino individuals (6.7%) and Asian individuals (4.4%) had lower current asthma prevalence rates than other racial and ethnic groups.

Current Asthma Rates by Hispanic Subgroups

  • While asthma rates are relatively low for Latino individuals overall, rates vary significantly among subgroups. Puerto Ricans in the continental United States have the highest current asthma rate of any racial or ethnic group, at 14.0 percent over 2016 to 2018.

Current Asthma Rates by Family Income

  • In 2022, current asthma rates decreased as family income increased, with the highest rates (11.3%) among those with a family income below the poverty threshold.

Current Asthma Rates by Health Insurance Coverage

  • In 2022, current asthma rates among adults ages 18 to 65 were highest for those on Medicaid and lowest for those with no medical insurance.

Current Asthma by State

Adult
  • In 2022, current asthma rates among adults ranged from 7.9% in Texas to 13.3% in Rhode Island.
Child
  • Asthma prevalence data for children is not available for every state and year. Among the thirty-one states with 2022 data, current asthma rates among children ranged from 4.5% in Illinois to 10.2% in Massachusetts.

Current Asthma by State, 2022
State Child Adult
  Count Percent Year Count Percent
Alabama 72,900 7.1%   378,700 9.6%
Alaska --- ---   58,700 10.7%
Arizona 129,200 8.1% 2016 556,000 9.7%
Arkansas --- ---   243,000 10.5%
California 430,700 5.6%   2,629,500 8.7%
Colorado --- ---   500,100 10.8%
Connecticut 55,800 8.2%   356,700 12.4%
Delaware --- ---   79,000 9.9%
District of Columbia 12,300 9.7% 2021 60,400 11.1%
Florida 213,600 5.2%   1,646,600 9.3%
Georgia 184,500 7.8%   802,800 9.6%
Hawaii 26,600 9.2%   103,200 9.1%
Idaho --- ---   162,000 11.1%
Illinois 117,100 4.5%   856,500 8.7%
Indiana 116,500 8.1%   574,400 11.0%
Iowa 41,600 5.8% 2011 238,700 9.7%
Kansas 48,800 7.5%   237,700 10.7%
Kentucky 88,000 9.5%   377,400 10.8%
Louisiana 94,100 8.8% 2015 351,900 10.0%
Maine 15,200 6.7%   146,000 13.1%
Maryland 77,300 6.0%   499,100 10.3%
Massachusetts 125,500 10.2%   633,100 11.3%
Michigan 137,400 6.8%   935,700 11.9%
Minnesota 67,200 5.5%   434,500 9.9%
Mississippi 42,700 6.9%   211,100 9.4%
Missouri 104,800 8.1%   497,200 10.4%
Montana 14,000 6.3%   102,600 11.7%
Nebraska 21,700 4.7%   121,400 8.1%
Nevada 46,800 7.2% 2020 251,200 10.1%
New Hampshire 10,700 4.5%   148,300 13.1%
New Jersey 119,000 6.4%   --- 8.9%
New Mexico 43,200 9.7%   171,200 10.4%
New York 319,000 8.3%   1,611,000 10.3%
North Carolina 250,600 11.5% 2014 764,900 9.2%
North Dakota 10,000 6.5% 2012 61,900 10.4%
Ohio 163,800 6.8%   1,042,400 11.4%
Oklahoma 88,700 9.8% 2016 373,900 12.3%
Oregon 55,000 6.9% 2019 389,800 11.5%
Pennsylvania 240,300 9.9%   1,033,700 10.1%
Puerto Rico 70,100 10.4% 2021 356,400 12.2%
Rhode Island 52,100 10.1%   117,300 13.3%
South Carolina 13,300 6.7%   368,900 9.0%
South Dakota --- ---   56,600 8.3%
Tennessee 139,200 9.7% 2014 636,300 11.7%
Texas 451,800 6.4% 2021 1,760,700 7.9%
Utah 524,600 7.4%   266,100 11.0%
Vermont 65,600 7.2%   68,100 12.9%
Virginia 8,800 7.9%   671,100 9.9%
Washington 115,900 7.3% 2016 667,200 10.9%
West Virginia 34,600 9.4% 2014 181,400 12.9%
Wisconsin 76,900 6.2% 2021 503,300 10.9%
Wyoming 79,300 6.7%   47,000 10.5%
United States* --- 7.0%   25,987,400 9.9%

Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2011-2022. Analysis by the American Lung Association Epidemiology and Statistics Unit.

  • * National child asthma prevalence is based on data from 31 states and Washington, D.C.
  • Child asthma data is from 2018 unless an earlier year is noted, in which case that is the most recent year of data available. If a state has not collected child asthma data since 2011, no rate is listed.
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Page last updated: June 13, 2024

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